The crime took place on Manhattan Island, not far from the Jacobs Federal Building. Roan and Lacey arrived at the target location in just a few minutes.
The SUV slowly parked on the side of the road. Luo An and Lacey unbuckled their seat belts, jumped out of the car, and walked quickly to the bakery opposite.
The body was lying next to the car in front of the bakery.
"Hello, I'm Roan Greenwood..."
Seeing the cordon set up by the NYPD, Luo An subconsciously prepared to take out the golden badge in his pocket and introduce his identity.
But just as he was mid-sentence, the NYPD detective opposite turned around, walked over and patted Luo An on the shoulder:
"I didn't expect it to be you, Luo An, that this case would be handed over to you!"
Seeing the smile on the detective's face, Luo An also laughed:
"It turns out to be you, Detective Walton!"
Detective Walton is a typical Texan. Yesterday he happened to attend Ryder's barbecue party with Luo An, and he even had an arm-wrestling fight with Luo An.
After losing to Luo An in an arm-wrestle, it was Detective Walton who gave Luan the card that only NYPD family members can get.
After introducing Lacey's identity and briefly reminiscing with Detective Walton, Luo An glanced at the body covered with white cloth on the ground and asked:
"What's going on at the scene?"
"The victim's name is Carolina Beloz. She is 65 years old and is one of the judges of the New York Court."
When it came to business, Detective Walton looked serious and put his hands on his hips:
"That's why this case is in your hands."
The murder of a judge is not a small case, and the NYPD decisively chose to hand this case over to the FBI.
Luo An bent down and lifted up the white cloth to check the condition of the body. Lacey continued to ask:
"Did anything get stolen?"
"It doesn't look like it."
Detective Walton shook his head:
"My mobile phone, wallet, ID, cash, and handbag are all there, but no missing items were found."
Lacey's expression remained unchanged:
"It does not appear to be a killing of passion motivated by a robbery."
"That's right."
Luo An, who was next to the corpse, nodded in response, then his eyes lit up and he moved to the side of the car.
Picking up two clearly used bullet casings from under the car, Luo An stood up with a smile and handed them to Detective Walton:
"Please send someone to deliver them to the federal building later."
"OK."
Detective Walton nodded in agreement, and pointed at the white young man not far behind him who was surrounded by several NYPD officers, and said:
"He was the person who called the police and was an eyewitness to the entire incident."
Luo An and Lacey thanked Walton and immediately walked to the white young man.
"I was just planning to come to this bakery to buy something to eat."
Seeing the FBI golden badges displayed by Luo An and Lacey, the young man immediately replied:
"As soon as I walked around the corner of the street, I heard two gunshots. When I saw someone shot and lying on the ground, I quickly called the police."
"You did very well."
Lacey took out a small notebook and expressed her affirmation to the young man while recording it, while Luo An continued to ask:
"Did you see the face of the shooter?"
"No."
The white young man shook his head and said that the murderer was wearing a mask and he could not see his face clearly.
"But the guy was wearing blue jeans, a black jacket and a gray hoodie."
The young man then added and pointed to the east of the bakery:
"After the shooting, the guy ran that way."
Hearing the young man use "He" to describe the other party, Luo An continued to ask:
"Are you sure that guy is a male?"
"That's right."
The young man said that the murderer yelled before shooting. It was a man's voice and he couldn't have heard it wrong.
"What did the murderer shout?"
"There are two sentences in total. I didn't hear the first sentence clearly."
The young man spread his hands:
"The last sentence shouts: It's your turn now."
"Wow."
Hearing this, Lacey stopped writing, and Luo An crossed his arms to his chest:
"Looks like a revenge case."
——
Investigation Team No. 5, Luo An and Lacey participated in the meeting discussion via mobile phone.
Augustus stood at the front of the office area, holding a folder, and loudly introduced the basic information of the victim, then looked at William and asked:
"Anything else to add?"
"Carolina Beloz has been a judge for six years."
William sat at his workstation and said while typing on the keyboard:
"But most of the cases she has been responsible for in the last two years have been related to prison appeals."
"So she's dealing with criminals in prison."
August closed the folder:
"Has the victim received threatening letters or been stalked?"
"There is a documented case."
Mona tapped the keyboard a few times, raised her head and said:
"Fourteen months ago, a gang member threatened Carolina with bullets.
But less than a month after the gang member was released from prison, his head was chopped off due to a fight between gangs. "
"A wretched fellow."
August suddenly received a call on his cell phone. He turned around and walked into the conference room. Luo An said on the other end of the phone:
"Just because a gang member died does not mean that others have no grudge against Carolina. Some people can tolerate it until they are released from prison and then take revenge on her."
"Yeah."
The agents of Investigation Team No. 5 nodded in unison.
Although there is no original saying in the West that a gentleman takes revenge, it is never too late in ten years, but there are also similar sentences with the same meaning.
"Continue investigating the cases that Carolina has handled recently."
Luo An sat in the car, remotely controlling the investigation direction of the No. 5 investigation team agents, and then asked:
"Mona, how is the surveillance near the crime scene going?"
"Only the camera in the flower shop next to the bakery recorded a little bit of the incident. Surveillance in other places did not find the murderer."
Mona showed the surveillance footage to the agents of Investigation Team No. 5. Luo An and Lacey could not see it, so she briefly described the situation in the surveillance and finally concluded:
"The car Carolina drove was a Jaguar, so it can be inferred that the murderer was about 1.8 meters tall.
As for other content... Sorry, the clarity of the flower shop's surveillance is average, and the murderer is wearing a mask, so I can't find any other useful information at the moment. "
"OK."
Luo An didn't say anything more. He pondered for a few seconds and continued to ask:
"How is the victim's family, such as financial status, marital relationship, etc.?"
Mona quickly typed on the keyboard a few times, then frowned:
“Carolina’s husband died in a car accident two years ago, and her two daughters are a lawyer and a coffee shop owner.
But the lawyer's daughter suddenly disappeared a year ago and her whereabouts are unknown.
The daughter of the coffee shop owner became addicted to drugs two years ago and died of a drug overdose six months ago. "
"What?"
After listening to Mona's description, and then thinking of the murderer's words, "It's your turn now," the agents of Investigation Team No. 5 were all startled, and Lacey in the SUV also had doubts in her eyes.
Luo An was silent for a moment and asked seriously:
"So, the Carolina family has been wiped out now, right?"
"No!"
Mona on the other end of the phone reported an address and said:
"Carolina Beloz still has a sister alive in the world. She has been living with Carolina for nearly a year."
"OK."
Asking Mona and the agents of Investigation Team No. 5 to dig deep into all the information about Carolina, Luo An hung up the phone, started the SUV, kicked the accelerator, and rushed out in the direction of Carolina's sister's house.
(End of chapter)
